The Supreme Court has ordered the Town of Grand Bank to delay a by-election scheduled for next week.

It’s been put on hold after a man claimed he was wrongly disqualified from running as a candidate.

The by-election was set for next Thursday. But Justice Peter O’Flaherty has ordered the town to put it off until it’s determined if Derrick Dunne can be nominated and run for council.

Dunne was disqualified by the town on the nomination date, May 26, saying he can’t be a candidate because he works for the council. He’s challenging that decision in court, but also asked for an injunction to delay the by-election until the issue is settled.

Dunne has been a paramedic with the Grand Bank-Fortune Ambulance Service for 24 years. But since the towns jointly choose board members from their councils, he was deemed, in a roundabout way, to be an employee of council.

Dunne disputes that, arguing the ambulance service is a separate corporation, which detaches him from direct employment.

In the end, Justice O’Flaherty said Dunne would suffer more harm if the byelection proceeds, than the Town of Grand Bank would if it were postponed. He ordered the June 16 vote to be out off until a final decision is made on Dunne’s eligibility to run for council.